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Cathedral Chapter today

The Combined Cathedral Chapter consists of up to nine members, each of whom is referred to as a Dean. The title Dean is both an outstanding distinction and a demanding self-obligation. As the supervisory body of the Combined Cathedral Chapter, the members meet several times a year for chapter meetings in which they get a picture of the work of the chapter administration and discuss current problems. One of the most important tasks is the permanent representation of the Combined Cathedral Chapter. The chapter members are to contribute their different professional competences and experiences from the fields of economy, administration, justice, church, culture and science as well as their far-reaching networks to the most diverse institutions and authorities for the benefit of the chapters work.

Dean, Senior & Co

All members of the Combined Cathedral Chapter perform their duties for the Chapter in an honorary capacity. At the head of the community is a dean elected by the chapter itself. This office obliges a regular presence at the seat of the chapter in Naumburg in order to sustainably support the work of the chapter administration. The deputy of the dean is the senior. After the expiry of a term of five years, each chapter member may stand for re-election. After leaving the chapter, the former member can bear the title of honorary canoness or honorary canon.

Requirements

The admission of a new Chapter member is by co-optation, i.e. the Chapter recruits itself independently. Candidates must belong to a German Protestant member church. As a representative of the Protestant Church of Central Germany, a regional bishop of the regional church is always represented in the chapter. Beyond that, there are no fixed professional qualifications, which enables the chapter to have a broad professional base. The canons include economists, politicians, scientists, educators and architects.

 

KarinvWelck

Dean Prof. Dr. Karin Freifrau von Welck

Senator (ret.)

"I feel it is a great honour and challenge to be able to work in the cathedral chapter. I hope that I can help to further advance the work of the Combined Cathedral Chapter and to preserve the magnificent art treasures and make them even better known. I would like to encourage more people from all over Germany and Europe, and indeed from all over the world, to come to Naumburg, Merseburg and Zeitz to visit the cathedrals, experience their art treasures, learn about their history and get to know the magnificent landscape."

  • Born on 30 April 1947 in Buir near Cologne
  • Training:
    Studied ethnology, linguistics and German at the universities of Hamburg and Cologne.
  • Professional stations:
    Head of Department/Director at the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum of Ethnology of the City of Cologne
    Director of the Reiss-Engelhorn Museum of Cultural History of the City of Mannheim
    Secretary General of the Kulturstiftung der Länder, Berlin
    Senator for Culture of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
    Senator for Culture, Sport and Media of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
  • Memberships etc.:
    Chairwoman of the Foundation Board of Kunsthalle Emden
    Member of the Board of Trustees of the Schulpforta Foundation
    Member of the Board of Trustees of the James Simon Foundation
    Long-time member of:
    • Member of the Presidium of the German Protestant Kirchentag
    • President of the German Protestant Kirchentag from 2007-2009
    • Member of the Board of the German Commission for UNESCO
    • Member of the Art Advisory Board of UNICEF, Germany
    • Klaus Michael Kühne Foundation
    • Friends of Luther, Saxony-Anhalt
      Circle of Friends
  • Awards:
    1986 German Youth Literature Prize, children's non-fiction book
    2008 Max Herrmann Prize, Berlin State Library
  • Family: married
  • Place of residence: Steinhorst

Wilhelm von Carlowitz

"To participate in the preservation of the ecclesiastical institutions in Naumburg, Merseburg and Zeitz and to maintain and further advance our important, ancient chapter is a great honour and joy for me "old Naumburger". In the cathedral chapter, as a man of business, I stand ready to advise and support the chapter administration in economic and financial matters."

  • Born in 1944 in Falkenhain near Leipzig
  • Training:
    Theology studies in Naumburg and East Berlin (without exams)
    Studies in economics and business administration in Bonn and Cologne, Diplom-Kaufmann (degree in business administration)
  • Professional stations:
    Work for Commerzbank AG in Germany and abroad
    Executive Board Commerzbank-Mitteldeutschland, Head Office Dresden (Corporate Customers, Human Resources, Organisation)
    Management of the Brunkau/Altmark forestry operation
  • Awards: Federal Cross of Merit
  • Memberships etc.:
    Circle of Friends of the United Cathedral Chapter
    Board of Directors Forest Owners Association Saxony-Anhalt
  • Family: married, three children
  • Place of residence: Brunkau
v.Carlowitz
Gademann

Prof. Dr. med. Günther Gademann

University Professor A. D.

"My training and my professional life as an oncologist had little to do with culture per se, but it became increasingly important for me over the years, also as a balance. The Christian faith, on the other hand, has always been my great support, especially in my professional life. So it is a great honour for me to be elected canon to the chapter of the Combined Cathedral Chapter. I feel it is my duty, body and soul, to continue the over 1000-year-old Christian tradition in a dignified manner in our time and to make the incredible cultural treasures accessible to the people in a modern way. I see the inclusion of Naumburg Cathedral in the UNESCO World Heritage List, two days after my election, as an additional challenge. May God give me his blessing for this."

  • Born in 1952 in Schweinfurt
  • Training:
    Studies in physics (Dipl. Phys.), Erlangen
    Study of human medicine (state examination and doctorate), Erlangen
  • Professional stations:
    Assistant and senior physician at the Department of Radiology at Heidelberg University Hospital
    Specialist in general radiology and specialist in radiotherapy
    Habilitation in General Radiology
    Professor of Radiotherapy at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg and Director of the University Clinic for Radiotherapy Magdeburg
  • Memberships etc.:
    Knight of the Order of St. John and member of the Convent of the Provincial Saxon Cooperative
    Trustee of the Johanniter Hospital Genthin-Stendal
    Chairman of the DIN Radiology Standards Committee
    Friends of the United Cathedral Chapter
    Circle of Friends of the Cultural Foundation of the Federal States
    Rotary Club Magdeburg
    German Society for Radiooncology DEGRO
    Vice Rector for Research at Otto von Guericke University 1996-1998
    Founding Chair of the Protestant University Advisory Board 2000-2012
  • Family: married, three children, three grandchildren
  • Place of residence: Magdeburg

Dr.h.c. Johann Schneider

Regional Bishop in the Bishopric of Magdeburg

"I associate with my office as canons the dignified task of filling the treasures of our ancient Christian culture with life and bringing them into the public consciousness. The cathedrals in Naumburg and Merseburg and St. Michael's Church in Zeitz are living witnesses of the past and collective experiences turned to stone that we encounter. It is our responsibility to sensitise children and young people, as well as their parents, to a living transmission of this heritage in their encounters in the cathedrals and to help them see, hear and understand the language of the stones."

  • Born in 1963 in Mediasch, Transylvania (Romania)
  • Training:
    Training as a toolmaker
    Studied Protestant theology and philosophy in Neuendettelsau, Tübingen, Munich, Erlangen, Rome
  • Professional stations:
    Evangelical Lutheran pastor in Nuremberg
    International Scholarship Officer in Stuttgart
    Theological High Church Council in Hanover
    Regional Bishop in the Bishopric of Magdeburg, Protestant Church in Central Germany
  • Awards:
    Doctoral Award of the Staedtler Foundation, Nuremberg (2005)
  • Memberships etc.:
    Rotary Club Halle
  • Family: married, two children
  • Place of residence: Halle (Saale)
F1010265c United Cathedral Founders Photo Falko Matte
F1010247c United Cathedral Founders Photo Falko Matte

Hans-Hubert Werner

"My great wish is that I could contribute to achieving similar visitor numbers in Merseburg Cathedral as in Naumburg Cathedral. Especially in the next few years, the Combined Cathedral Chapter have a lot planned for Merseburg Cathedral, because big anniversaries are coming up. In 2015, the foundation stone of Merseburg Cathedral will be laid a thousand years ago. And the great chronicler of the early Middle Ages, Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg, celebrates his 1000th birthday in 2018. I would like to make my contribution. For me, however, Merseburg Cathedral is first and foremost a very important spiritual place: it is my parish church, which should be open to many people in my city. That's what I want to work for.

  • Born in Stolberg/Harz in 1944
  • Training:
    Studied German language and literature and musicology at the University of Education Zwickau
    Studies as well as singing and singing pedagogy at the Hochschule für Musik "Felix Mendelsohn-Bartholdy" Leipzig
  • Professional stations:
    Teacher/ deputy head teacher and singing teacher at the Merseburg District Music School
    Deputy Rector/High School Coordinator at Domgymnasium Merseburg
  • Awards:
    Cross of Merit on ribbon
  • Memberships etc.:
    Councillor/Chairman of the Cultural Committee in the Merseburg City Council
    Member of the Parish Church Council of the Evangelical Church District of Merseburg
    Chairman of the Parish Church Council
    Member of the board of the Freundeskreis Musik und Denkmalpflege in Kirchen des Merseburger Landes e.V. (Friends of Music and Monument Preservation in Churches of the Merseburg Region).
    Chairman of the Board of the Willi Sitte Foundation Merseburg
    Honorary membership in the Circle of Friends of the United Cathedral Chapter
  • Family: married, two children
  • Place of residence: Merseburg

Dr Harald von Bose

"As a member of the cathedral chapter, I bear overall responsibility for the development of the Combined Cathedral Chapter at all three locations Naumburg, Merseburg and Zeitz. In doing so, I see the special task and opportunity in the combination of Christian faith, preservation of cultural assets and presentation of the wonderful art treasures. Those who visit the region and the cultural sites are enriched and can inspire others. Personally, as a canon, I tie in with traditions in the von Bose family and their traces in the Merseburg region, as well as with memberships of ancestors in the cathedral chapters in Merseburg and Naumburg. I feel a special bond and love for Merseburg and the old beautiful cathedral. For me, the office is an honour, a joy and an obligation to keep the cultural heritage of the cathedral founders alive."

  • Born in Hamburg in 1955
  • Training:
    Studied law in Hamburg and Bonn
  • Professional stations:
    Higher General Administrative Service of the State of Lower Saxony
    State Chancellery of Saxony-Anhalt, inter alia Head of the Department of Constitutional Law, Departmental Coordination Ministries of the Interior and Justice
    Saxony-Anhalt State Commissioner for Data Protection since 2005, State Commissioner for Freedom of Information since 2008
  • Memberships etc.:
    Senior of the von Bose family association
    Order of St John/Provincial Saxon Cooperative
    Member of the Board of the Cultural Foundation of the Saxon-Thuringian Nobility
    German Section of the International Commission of Jurists
    Rotary Club Magdeburg
  • Family: single
  • Place of residence: Magdeburg
HaraldvBose 2
Prof. Dr Joerg Ulrich 2

Prof. Dr Jörg Ulrich

"I have lived in the region since 2002 and am fascinated by its immense wealth of wonderful churches, chapels and monasteries, which cannot be found anywhere else in Europe. Among these, the cathedrals in Merseburg and Naumburg and St. Michael's in Zeitz are particularly important. As a theologian and church historian, I am interested in the building and institutional history of these churches, but above all in the history(s) of the people who lived and believed and prayed here over the centuries. In my service as Canon, I would like to help ensure that people from all over the world, and especially the younger generation, can share my enthusiasm for these precious treasures with me and the other members of the Cathedral Chapter of the Combined Cathedral Chapter."

  • Born in 1960 in Stuttgart
  • Training:
    Studied Protestant theology in Hamburg, Bethel, Tübingen and Durham (GB)
  • Professional stations:
    Vicariate with the Hanoverian Regional Church, ordination
    Assistant for Church History, University of Erlangen
    Professor of Church History, University of Kiel
    Since 2002 Professor of Church History, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg | Vice Dean, later Dean of the Faculty of Theology
    Since 2003 University Preacher at Martin Luther University
    2005-2020 Honorary Professor at Aarhus University (DK)
  • Memberships etc.:
    2008-2016 Review Board "Theology" of the DFG
    Since 2011 Ephorus of the Evangelical Convict Halle
    Board member of the European Romanesque Centre
    Scientific Society for Theology
    Association Internationale d'Études Patristiques
  • Family: married
  • Residence: Leipzig

Dr Christof Günther

"The Combined Cathedral Chapter are responsible for unique cultural monuments that continue to shape people and cities today. The Imperial Cathedral of Merseburg stands as an impressive symbol of the formative power of the Christian faith and Ottonian kingship in Central Europe and beyond. Especially in our time, which often lacks secure points of orientation, it is important to preserve this treasure entrusted to us, to fill it with life and to pass on the knowledge of its significance. So many generations before us have succeeded in doing this through often difficult times over more than 1,000 years. That we continue to succeed in this is a concern to which I gladly contribute my strength."

  • Born in Saalfeld (Saale) in 1969
  • Training:
    Training as an electrical machine builder
    Studied electrical engineering and business administration at the universities of TU Ilmenau, University of Illinois (USA), TU Delft (NL), TU Berlin, graduated as Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Ing.
    Dissertation WHU Vallendar/University of Mannheim
  • Professional stations:
    Consultant with internationally active management consultancy, Vallendar/Mannheim
    Various management positions in the energy industry
    since 2004 InfraLeuna GmbH, from 2012 Managing Director
  • Awards:
    2003: Editorial Board Award: Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, New York (USA)
    2016: Medal of Honour of the City of Leuna
  • Memberships etc.:
    Executive Board Employers' Association North-East Chemistry, Berlin
    Board of Directors Verband der Chemischen Industrie e.V. North East
    Board of Directors FV Chemieparks im VCI, Frankfurt/Main
    Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Merseburg University of Applied Sciences
    Vice President of the Halle-Dessau Chamber of Industry and Commerce
    Curator Fraunhofer IFF, Magdeburg
    Supervisory Board Institute for Corporate Research/ Management (ifu) at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
  • Family: married, four children
  • Place of residence: Merseburg
CanonChristofGuenther 2
Picture Bartmer 2

Carl-Albrecht Bartmer

Senior

"For me, the wonderful cathedrals in Naumburg and Merseburg as well as St. Michael's Church in Zeitz are beams of the power of Christian faith that reach far beyond their unique cultural and historical significance. Keeping the spirit of these ancient places of worship alive in the present day, encouraging people in the sense of their responsibility for tomorrow, for confidently taking responsibility, I consider to be one of our most important tasks."

  • Born in 1961 in Thuine (Emsland)
  • Training:
    Agricultural apprenticeship
    Studied agricultural sciences in Göttingen, Dipl. Agr. Ing.
  • Professional stations:
    Re-foundation of the old Löbnitz family farm near Staßfurt
    President of the German Agricultural Society (DLG)
    Membership of the Shareholders' Committee and Supervisory Board of Claas KG a.A. and other supervisory boards in the agricultural sector
  • Memberships etc.:
    Reg. Commendator of the Provincial Saxon Cooperative of the Order of St John
    Member of the Board of Trustees of the Schulpforta Foundation
    Chairman of the Board of the Staßfurt Orphanage Foundation
  • Family: married, four children
  • Place of residence: Löbnitz near Staßfurt

Ernst-Albert Naether

Honorary Canon

"I would like to be able to make an efficient contribution to bringing the great ecclesiastical and secular cultural treasures of the Combined Cathedral Chapter even more strongly into people's awareness, regionally and supraregionally. I see my appointment as a canon not only as a cultural mandate to preserve history and tradition, but at the same time as a mandate to make a contribution to the awareness and image of the region. I feel jointly responsible for achieving the goals of the Combined Cathedral Chapter and there in particular for my native city of Zeitz."

  • Born in 1936 in Zeitz
  • Training:
    Graduate Psychologist, University of Hamburg
  • Professional stations:
    Managing partner of a market research institute in Hamburg
    Market Research and Marketing Consultant (Consultant) 
  • Memberships etc.:
    Circle of Friends of the United Cathedral Chapter
    Friends of Thalia Theater Hamburg, Schauspielhaus Hamburg, Staatsoper Berlin, Neues Theater Zeitz, etc.
  • Family: married, four children
  • Residence: Hamburg
naether
Campenhausen 2011 Photo MarcDarchinger

Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult Axel Freiherr von Campenhausen

Honorary Canon

"Since 1991, I supported the tasks of the Combined Cathedral Chapter as a canon. It was the merit of the cathedral chapter to save the treasures of the Combined Cathedral Chapter through the difficult years of the GDR. Naturally, changes had to be made after the fall of the Wall. Not least, the relationship to the regional church and the ecclesiastical character of the cathedral chapter had to become clearer again. For me, it is my contribution in the reunified Germany."

  • Born in 1934 in Göttingen
  • Training:
    Studied law, theology and political science in Heidelberg, Göttingen, Cologne/Bonn, Paris and London
  • Professional stations:
    Ordinarius of Constitutional, Administrative and Canon Law at the University of Munich
    State Secretary in the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and the Arts
    President of the Klosterkammer Hannover
    Honorary professor at the University of Göttingen
    Honorary Director of the EKD Institute of Canon Law
    Chairman of the Association of German Foundations
  • Awards:
    Grand Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • Family: married, four children
  • Place of residence: Hanover

Reinhard Rüger

Honorary Canon

"As honorary canon - and previously as canon - of the Combined Cathedral Chapter, I am not only concerned with the preservation of buildings, art and monuments, but also with the preservation and dignified design of spaces for worship and devotion as well as for the presentation of our art treasures: in Merseburg, the cathedral church and the chapel of the Word of God at the cloister, the chapter house, the treasury as well as the princely crypt; in Naumburg, the cathedral church with the chapels, the cathedral treasury vault, the rooms of the former cloister and St. Mary's Church at the cathedral; and in Zeitz, St. Michael's Church and the abbey library."

  • Born in 1934 in Kaufungen in Saxony, Germany
  • Training:
    Study of architecture
  • Professional stations:
    Carpenter, wood sculptor
    Senior conservator /area conservator at the Halle Institute for Monument Preservation / Halle State Office for Monument Preservation
    Freelance architect with focus on monument conservation  
  • Memberships etc.:
    Chairman of the parish church council and synod member of the Church Province of Saxony
    Circle of Friends of the United Cathedral Chapter  
  • Family: married, five children
  • Place of residence: Halle (Saale)
P3224858ok 2
DSC 2462c United Cathedral Founders Photo Falko Matte

Georg Count of Zech-Burkersroda

Retired dean and honorary canon

"I would like and wanted to do something "without a salary" for the benefit of the general public in addition to my 36 years of professional life. After my ten-year commitment as dean of the Combined Cathedral Chapter, my greatest concern today is the further expansion of the "Friends and Sponsors of the Combined Cathedral Chapter" into an important body to support the tasks of the chapter. I also wanted to help ensure that Naumburg Cathedral is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List."

  • Born in 1938 in Halle
  • Training:
    Study of mechanical engineering (Dipl.-Ing.)
    Business studies (USA)
  • Professional stations:
    Managing Partner of Gehl GmbH
  • Awards:
    Order of Merit of the State of Saxony-Anhalt
    Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • Memberships, etc.:
    Order of St John
    Rotary Club Münster
    Trustee/Honourary Trustee of Johanniter Nursing Home in Nebra, Saxony-Anhalt
    Chairman of the Friends of the United Cathedral Chapter
    Friends of the Münster City Museum
    Friends of the Heart Centre Münster
    Member of the Board of Trustees of the Schulpforta Foundation
  • Family: married, three children
  • Place of residence: Münster

Former honorary canons

Dr Axel Vulpius

Ministerialdirigent a. D. and Honorary Canon from 2008-2023

"From 1991 onwards, I saw my contribution to the growing together of East and West for five years in the use of my ministerial experience from the Federal Ministry of the Interior as well as from the Federal Ministry of Education in the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs of Saxony-Anhalt, namely by taking over the leadership of negotiations for the state for the four new state church contracts in Saxony-Anhalt (see -> "Kommentar zu den Staatskirchenverträgen" 2023, Verlag Dunker & Humblot).
In addition, I was able to put the Combined Cathedral Chapter on a new, independent footing by reorganising their statutes. My later election as canon in 1997 enabled me to participate in the work of building up the cathedral chapter in keeping with its 1000-year history: 'For the first time in 1000 years as an independent legal entity' (Dechant Prof. Dr. E. Schubert, 2001).
To be able to contribute in this way to the glory of God as well as to the joy of many people - since 2008 as Honorary Canon - is an incomparably stimulating as well as gratifying task."

  • Born in 1926 in Heidelberg
  • Training:
    Studied law in East Berlin, Freiburg im Breisgau and Bonn
    Study
  • Professional stations:
    Legal Assistant in the German Bundestag Bonn (1950-1956)
    Civil servant at the Federal Ministry of the Interior (social assistance abroad, civil defence, education planning)
    Field service in the district of Eschwege (1958) and at the Federal Administrative Court in Berlin (1959)
    Continued service in the Federal Ministry of Education and Science, initially as head of department (further education, including educational leave as well as educational models for the integration of disabled persons, senior citizens, prisoners, distance learning, educational television, librarianship), later as sub-department head and ministerial head in the personnel department (budget, personnel, legal issues, internal service, "Concerted Action on Further Education")
    After retirement "advisor" in the Ministry of Culture of Saxony-Anhalt for church affairs (negotiation of state-church contracts, state benefits, religious education, United Cathedral Foundations of Merseburg and Naumburg and the collegiate chapter of Zeitz, 1991-1995)
  • Awards:
    Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 2008
    Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon 1987
  • Special features:
    Establishment of the "Dr Axel Vulpius Foundation" Naumburg Cathedral 
  • Memberships, etc.:
    Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vulpius Klinik GmbH in Bad Rappenau (1972-2005)
    Deputy Synod member of the Synod of the Protestant Church in Germany
    Cathedral Chapter of the United Cathedral Chapter of Merseburg and Naumburg and the Collegiate Chapter of Zeitz
    Presidium of the German Section of the International Commission of Jurists, later honorary member
    Reading and Recreation Society Bonn
    Eduard Erdmann Society Süderbrarup/Schleswig
    Chairman of the Ev. Kirchbauverein Bonn-Röttgen
    Citizens for Beethoven Bonn
    Association of Friends and Sponsors of the Combined Cathedral Chapter e.V.
  • Family: married, three children. ten grandchildren.
  • Place of residence: Bonn-Röttgen
Vulpius 2017 coloured smaller scaled
Contact

Combined Cathedral Chapter of Merseburg and Naumburg and the Collegiate Chapter of Zeitz
Domplatz 19, 06618 Naumburg

Phone: 03445 - 2301-0
Fax: 03445 - 2301-110
Email: verwaltung@vereinigtedomstifter.de

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